Dmitry Medvedev hints at second presidential bid

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said he will soon decide whether to seek re-election in March 2012 and portrayed himself as the agent of change for the country.

Dmitry Medvedev, left, and Vladimir PutinPhoto: AFP/GETTY

7:00AM BST 13 Apr 2011

His comments were the latest in a series of assertive remarks suggesting that Mr Medvedev, long seen as little more than a placeholder for his predecessor Vladimir Putin, wants to stay on as president for a new six-year term.

"It is high time for changes," Mr Medvedev said in an interview with China's CCTV before a visit to China for a meeting of the BRICS group of emerging market nations. "He who does not change remains in the past."

Mr Medvedev and Mr Putin have both said they will decide together on a candidate for the March 2012 presidential election but many analysts say Mr Putin will ultimately make the decision himself.

Russia's ruling elite is putting pressure on both Mr Medvedev and Mr Putin to end the uncertainty although some insiders are saying that there is no decision yet and it will likely be made after the parliamentary election in December.

"I do not rule out that I will run for a new term as president. A decision will be made, moreover, in the fairly near future because there is less than a year remaining," he said.

He also emphasised that his power was supreme to that of Mr Putin, who is widely seen as the country's paramount leader, while Mr Medvedev is often referred to as his junior partner.

"We have different posts, different roles: I am the President of Russia, the guarantor of the Constitution, the head of the state," he said. "President forms the government, manages a lot of processes in the country."

"What was good 10 years ago isn't good today," he said. "At some point we had to strengthen the foundations of our state and gather the parts of the destroyed economy together, but we are not going to build state capitalism, this is not our choice."